glaive Comes of Age and Into His Own in ‘i care so much that i don’t care at all’

We may stumble, fall, and experience what feels like the end of the world once or twice, but eventually, in spite of it all, we grow up. And for glaive, an artist who rose to fame alongside the rapid ascent of hyperpop, his debut album, i care so much that i don’t care at all, feels like a veritable coming-of-age.

i care so much that i don’t care at all sees glaive cementing the growth hinted at in previously-released singles, stepping away from the hyper online trademarks that defined his early sound and embracing a noted sonic maturity that knows precisely when and where to push and pull. Opening on the heart-shattering “oh are you bipolar one or two,” the 18-year-old artist simultaneously looks back at his past and towards his uncertain, potentially untimely future. Speaking to weighty themes of suicidal ideation while referencing his first project, cypress grove, and those dearest to him, the breakout star sets the stage for his long-awaited debut album as a reckoning of sorts, an emotional upheaval spilling out before our very eyes.

This sense of catharsis is firmly rooted in the core of i care so much that i don’t care at all. For every euphoric, manic-induced “the car” and “i’m nothing that’s all i am,” there is a confessional, spill your still bleeding heart on the floor “pardee urgent care” and “the good the bad the olga.” Yet, no matter the sonic playground glaive is let free to frolic in—be it driving, stadium-ready production or sparse, acoustic adornment—he invites us to experience the tribulations, fears, and swirling thoughts of a young adult growing up before the eyes of the very world with an unapologetic abandon, never once shying away from the very feelings that seem poised to consume him whole.

As i care so much that i don’t care at all closes out its 13-track runtime with one final tender moment in “barbie doll,” glaive emerges as a far cry from the artist we first ran into on cypress grove. In the span of a few short years, he has evolved from the face of an online movement into a vulnerable, human, and inevitable star in his own right.

Listen to i care so much that i don’t care at all below: